Leading with GRIT: Inspiring Action and Accountability with Generosity, Respect, Integrity, and Truth

Chapter 8What Message Are You Sending?

Never separate the life you live from the words you speak.

—Paul Wellstone

As Sally walked into the office, her manager, Justin, barely making eye contact, called her over by condescendingly motioning with his finger. “What is this?” he barked. Sally tried to explain as he curtly handed the report to her. Without any further eye contact and rather sarcastically, he said, “Try again.”

Infuriated, Sally sat staring at her computer for about 30 minutes, unable to focus or concentrate on what she was supposed to be doing. As her friend and coworker Carol passed by, Sally asked if she had a minute. Forty-five minutes later, Carol and Sally had hashed over the situation and bashed Justin enough that if thoughts could kill, he'd be dead on the floor. Of course, Sally's anger was fueled by the conversation, and although she went back to work, her mind wasn't in it, let alone her heart.

Sally ended up making a costly mistake on another project that day, and she spent nearly double the time as she found herself struggling to stay focused. On top of it all, she received a phone call from a customer while she was trying to catch up on her work, and because of the edge in Sally's voice, the customer hung up irritated and ended up looking elsewhere.

Let's say Sally makes $30 an hour. Add up all the wasted time and errors and the customer's decision to leave, taking a large chunk of business away, and it's fair to say this manager just cost the company ...